Hakkaisan Sake

Becoming Yopparai with Hakkaisan!

Timothy Sullivan — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:02:19 +0000

Christy and Gaku at Yopparai

In April, Hakkaisan celebrated the coming of Spring for two weeks with a special on Hakkaisan Sake at Sake Bar Yopparai. If you weren’t able to make it, Sake Blogger Timothy Sullivan can take you there with this special report!

Yopparai is a slightly secluded hideaway on the Lower East Side. Recently, I headed there to enjoy a special treat – some specials on two of my favorite sakes – Hakkaisan Ginjo and Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai.

Now, Yopparai does almost everything in the traditional Japanese way, this includes their serving sizes. They sell sake in a serving size convention called a “go“. One go is a small single serving carafe of 180ml. Two go is a two serving-size carafe of 360ml. This system is great because you can order as little or as much as you want and try a couple of sakes with your meal.

Yopparai is run by Christy and Gaku, husband and wife sake fans who wanted to create an authentic Japanese style sake bar in Manhattan. And boy, have they succeeded. On this trip, I was excited to explore the foods on their menu to pair with Hakkaisan.

Hakkaisan Ginjo

I started with one go of the Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai. This sake is well known for it’s classic Junmai taste – clean, clear and easy drinking. Also, I get a delicious hint of creamed rice on the finish. What could be better for pairing with Japanese food?! Delicious! I paired this sake with the delicate Sashimi prepared by Yopparai’s serious sashimi chef. The Tokubetsu Junmai was perfect with Sashimi as it cleaned my palate beautifully between each bit of fish. Also, the hints of rice in the sake were a wonderful compliment to the fish. So far, so good!

Next, I tried one go of the Hakkaisan Ginjo. I decided to pair this sake with some grilled dishes and tried a skewer of tsukune (chicken meatball) and grilled ika (squid). Both had the wonderful taste of some fire-grilled yakitori sauce which really deepened their flavors. Perhaps my favorite dish of the night was the grilled squid. The Squid was tender and again the wonderful glaze made it even better. I think ika may be one of the great pairings with Japanese sake! The Hakkaisan Ginjo is a premium sake that is lightly fortified to maximize it’s aroma and impact. The taste on the palate is super smooth with a wonderfully tender richness that always wows me. The Ginjo was a good choice for this grilled fare as the body really stood up to the bolder tastes, but remained elegant and smooth as silk.

Many guests at Yopparai were enjoying Hakkaisan and the delicious food. This was a fun night at a great new sake bar in New York. I hope you’ll get a chance to try it soon, too. Food pairing with sake is a lot of fun – just take it one go at a time!

Hakkaisan Interview Series: Trevor Corson

Timothy Sullivan — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:53:31 +0000

Have you ever wanted to learn the real scoop on Japanese sushi? To get some answers, we recently caught up with Trevor Corson, who is known as the Sushi Concierge. He’s made it his mission to help Americans understand what the authentic Japanese sushi dining experience is all about. He also hosts Historial Sushi Dinners to guide guests through a hands on, more historically accurate type of sushi meal with a lot of interesting history and etiquette. And who better to guide us – Trevor has literally written the book on sushi: The Story of Sushi.

Trevor Corson

Q: How did you get started with Sushi?
Trevor Corson: I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to travel to Japan when I was 16 in high school. Before I went, a teacher in my school said – now, this was Washington DC, 1986 – you’re going to have to go eat sushi in Japan. Have you ever had it? Will you be able to eat it? So I got some sushi from a takeout place, ate it, and thought, now here is a cuisine that is truly repulsive. Didn’t want to eat it. But what happened was, staying with my Japanese home-stay family in Tokyo, they ended up taking me to their local sushi bar and I got to experience that dynamic, and the way it’s served there, and I was hooked.

However, it was many years later and many wonderful sushi meals later that I decided to write about it. When I was in japan I always had those wonderful experiences at the local sushi bar and it seems almost impossible to get that experience in America. I started to wonder why, and what was behind it. And that’s what led me to this deeper interest.

Q: What are the primary differences between sushi in Japan and in the U.S.?
Trevor Corson: For one, sitting at the sushi bar, vs. at tables. Also, interacting with the chef vs. ordering off a menu. Just take those two things alone and that completely changes the whole experience. To me the whole point of eating sushi is that you have that interactive, unexpected improvisational experience, which is a social interaction with the chef. I just feel that were missing out on all of that when we sit at a table and order off the menu – and often we order our favorites over and over again, and we never get to receive that special attention that the chef is there to give. We never get to experience all the skills that they have that we don’t even know about.

Q: What is your definition of ‘Sushi Concierge’
Trevor Corson: It evolved by accident when my book came out. My friends knew that I knew some sushi chefs and they said, hey we want to go have some sushi with you so we can get the real sushi. So my friends started jokingly referring to me as their “sushi concierge” and I just started doing it more, and doing it with other people. People really liked it and so the name stuck. What I’m trying to do is be a kind of cultural ambassador between the chef behind the sushi bar, who may not speak great English, who may not have a totally outgoing personality all the time, but has this amazing skill set that most of us never tap into, and mediate between the chef and the customer, who may not have the knowledge to take advantage of the situation. I hope to help create a new bond so that the customer can come back without me and have more of that type of experience. So it’s fast-tracking American diners to that wonderful close relationship you do have with the neighborhood sushi chef you’ve known your whole life and who knows you.

Sushi Dinner

Q: What are your thoughts on pairing with sake and sushi?
Trevor Corson: One of the surprises for me in doing my research was that there was this weird old-fashioned arrangement of different types of foods and drinks that were supposed to go with each other or not go with each other in Japanese traditional culinary thinking. To provide contrast, sake was something you would often drink with non-sushi dishes that did not have rice in them, because sake was made from rice. This relates to the cuisine part of sushi – it doesn’t occur to most of us that sushi chefs also have a whole repertoire of cooking skills that have nothing to do with sushi, which they have to pull out when they do a traditional sushi meal at the sushi bar, because an experienced customer at the sushi bar is expecting to eat some appetizers that are always interesting and new while they sip their sake at the beginning of the meal, before they have their sushi. So there’s that whole zone to pair stuff and try with different sakes, and experiment and improvise with the food, and it’s not something that ever even occurs to most of us – that chefs are actually under tremendous pressure to improvise in the appetizer portion of the meal before the sushi is even made.

Q: What you think is the one key thing for Americans to know about sushi that they don’t already?
Trevor Corson: No wasabi! Now, we’re talking about the higher end of sushi here, but this is because in good sushi, the chef is already putting a tiny bit of wasabi in the sushi when he makes it. He’s actually carefully calibrating that amount of wasabi to that particular type of fish. So if you add any more – and sushi chefs have told me this again and again – as soon as they see customers adding extra wasabi (even though they now serve extra wasabi, because everybody’s expecting it, you’re really not supposed to add anymore), they immediately take you off their freshest fish list for the evening, and they start serving you the older fish, because they know with all that wasabi your mouth, you’re not going to be able to taste the difference!

Hakkaisan Sake April Specials at Soba Totto

Timothy Sullivan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:42:33 +0000

Hakkaisan Special!

The month of April is full of Springtime joy – flowers and cherry blossoms are in full bloom! Hakkaisan is celebrating with specials around New York City.

From April 1 – 15th, Sobatotto joined our celebration to offer a wonderful special featuring Hakkaian Tokubetsu Junmai at a reduced price. A glass, carafe or full bottle of the Tokubetsu Junmai would come with either a small, medium or large appetizer

I got the bottle and this came with a huge appetizer plate featuring many small and yummy Japanese morsels. There was a really delicious mushroom and spinach salad as well as black seaweed “hijiki”. On the more interesting side, we were also able to sample “shiokara”: an intense fermented squid dish which the Japanese prize as the perfect pairing with sake.

After the appetizer -there is always room for Soba and Soba Totto does a masterful job! The texture and taste of the freshly made soba noodles pair perfectly with the clean and dry Tokubestsu Junmai.

Did you miss the specials at Soba Totto? No worries! Springtime celebrations continue with specials at Yopparai through the end of the month! See you there!

Historical Sushi Dinner featuring Hakkaisan

Kumiko Kurosawa — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 05:01:12 +0000

Hakkaisan served at Jewel Bako

Trevor Corson knows his sushi. Regularly teaching Historial Sushi Dinners, Trevor has made it his mission to teach the world how the Japanese really eat sushi.

At his most recent Historical Sushi Dinner held on April 12th at Jewel Bako, Hakkaisan was honored to provide the sake used to pair with the magnificent sushi. Sake Samurai Timothy Sullivan introduced the three Hakkaisan Sakes being served in addition to a brief profile of Hakkaisan brewery and a short sake 101. The sakes served were Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai, Hakkaisan Honjozo and Hakkaisan Junmai Ginjo. Timothy recommended the dry and clean Tokubetsu Junmai as the welcome and Kanpai sake. Next we moved on to the Honjozo to pair with a small appetizer of young bamboo shoot. Hakkaisan Honjozo’s great advantage is it’s extreme versatility with pairing and temperature. The final recommended pairing was the ultra clean, clear and super smooth Junmai Ginjo. Timothy explained how a clean sake like Hakkaisan Junmai Ginjo is wonderful to pair with sushi as it’s crisp body will cleanse the palate beautifully between delicious bites of various and unique tasting fish.

After the sakes got squared away, Trevor proceeded to educate and entertain the 28 guests assembled on not only the history of sushi, but also sushi etiquette and manners. The evening was full of surprises! Did you know that it’s perfectly acceptable to eat high-end sushi with your fingers? The best sushi places will provide a small dish with a wipe to clean your fingers between bites of fish – genius!

Historical Sushi

The history portion of the evening was extremely interesting and peeled back the curtain on sushi in the years before the California roll ate Manhattan. One of my most interesting points was regarding the birth of sushi – how did this form of eating evolve? Trevor taught us that as the Shogun was having the city of Edo (currently Tokyo) built, a wayward ramen fire burned much of the fledgeling city to the ground. As a result, open flame ramen shops were disallowed, allowing for the rise of fish-on-rice “fast food” to fill the void and become the meal of choice for the hordes of construction workers.

Another historical sushi A-ha moment? No O-Toro! Tuna belly as we know and love it has only become King of the Sushi Bar relatively recently. For most of Sushi’s history, tuna belly was something chefs might feed their cat, but never a paying customer. Tuna’s rise came along with the world’s increasing appetite for more fatty foods, as well as some enterprising cargo executives at JAL Airlines, who filled empty cargo planes returning to Japan with Atlantic caught tuna – kicking off a tuna craze that has yet to subside. This evenings fish featured several kinds of fish that are much more simple, traditional and elegant. This included Shrimp Nigiri which was delicious. The interesting maki roll served was a fresh and clean tasting shiso leaf – again, simple and elegant and quite a change from the spicy tuna we see so often today. Eel was also served and was quite a common ingredient for sushi in years past and today. Perhaps the most interesting piece of sushi was the square pressed Saba or Mackerel. This type of pressed sushi is called “oshi-zushi” and saba is perhaps the most common fish used in this preparation. delicious!

The guests this evening really enjoyed the sushi presentation and sake pairings. The many questions that guests asked attested to the hunger for knowledge there is in the U.S. for true sushi connoisseurship.

So, in the end, what’s the point of all this sushi learning? Trevor’s goal is to help Americans get an authentic sushi experience – sharing conversation with the chef and, in return, getting the best he or she has to offer. Well, I can tell you this – Authentic never tasted so good.

Visiting Hakkaisan: Hako Bune

Timothy Sullivan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:52:26 +0000

Hi, my name is Timothy Sullivan. I’m a sake Samurai and run a sake website called UrbanSake.com. I’m delighted to have been invited by Hakkaisan to visit them in Japan and report regularly on their website about what I see and experience! This is an exciting chance to show you first hand my visit to Hakkaisan!

Our Hakkaisan Adventures continue in Tokyo! My next stop was in the Shimbashi area of that great city. The Hakkaisan sales staff wanted to show me a special restaurant that serves some great Hakkaisan sake called Hako Bune. When you get seated in this restaurant, you’ll notice right away that the tables all have a deep pit in the middle. I quickly learned this is for adventurous in-table robata-style hot charcoal grilling. The waiter brings red hot, dangerous looking coals right to the table and using tongs, stacks them neatly in the pit. Fish and meats are stacked around the coals and everything cooks at your table right in front of you – talk about a floor show!

Red Hot Coals!

Hako Bune Shimbashi specializes in this in-table grilled fish and seafood from the northern areas of Japan’s main island. But even better, there are over 100 kinds of sake on the menu. On this night, I enjoyed three kinds of Hakkaisan. We had the Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai Nama Genshu, the Hakkaisan Daiginjo as well as the Hakkaisan Honjozo.

When the coals arrived, I really got concerned, but everyone here treated the whole procedure as quite routine. Flaming hot coals go in, grill goes on top and then comes the fish. Fish is either placed on top of the grill or skewered and stuck in the pit. Keeping an eye on the grilling fish is everyone’s responsibility and really keeps everyone on their toes.

I must say, charcoal grilling for yourself inside is not something I expected, but it was quite the adventure. The Manager even came over to check on us and gave us the honor of doing a Kanpai with him. I’ll admit, dodging those red hot coals did add a sense of danger to the evening, but also a real element of fun… delicious fun!

Hakobune: Shimbashi
Higashi-Shimbashi 1-1-2,
Asoruti Higashi Shinbashi 2F.
Tokyo, Japan

Capturing Sake Moments An ongoing journal of people and sake.

Kumiko Kurosawa — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:47:20 +0000

LOG ENTRY 2: Brooklyn NYC

Usually, a chef comes to your table at the end of your dinner and asks you “How was your dinner tonight?” I feel like that is for his self-satisfaction. I don’t like that.

I go to meet a customer at the beginning, saying “Good evening! How are you?” I like to feel how the customer is today and imagine what to cook.

Feeling is very important. After greeting a customer, I open my refrigerator. I try to match 3 things: the customer’s face, ingredients in the refrigerator, and my imagination.

How to cut is important. You don’t want to cut a mushroom with a knife. You need to peel it in half by hand. It smells better. Cutting this cucumber by hand, it seems juicier.

Hakkaisan on the rocks with lime is quite good. They should promote this…

Kiyo Shinoki,chef at Bohemian (http://playearth.jp)
Jinya Kaneko, publisher at One Peace Books (http://onepeacebooks.com)
Misato Aki, singer (http://misatoaki.jp)

Project by Atsushi Nishijima (http://jimagraphy.com)
http://jimagraphy.com/

Visiting Hakkaisan: Nihonbashi Suminoe Restaurant

Timothy Sullivan — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:04:03 +0000

Our next adventure takes us to Tokyo. Some of the Hakkaisan sales staff took me out to a wonderful fish and sake restaurant called Nihonbashi Suminoe. This restaurant opened in 2010 in the brand new and sparkling Coredo Muromachi Building. The restaurant brings the fish market experience to this restaurant in the Nihonbashi area – well known as Tokyo’s financial district.

Ice Ice Baby

What makes visiting this restaurant so fun, is that they make you feel like you’re at a real fish market. Some of the fish is on display over ice in Styrofoam containers – just like you would see at the wholesale fish market. Signs above our heads recall banners you’d see at a fish market, too. Also, due to the popularity of this restaurant, you also get the hustle and bustle; it’s energetic and jaunty atmosphere!

Once seated, we ordered a special Hakkaisan sake for our first kanpai or “cheers”. Presented in a beautiful blue glass carafe, I was about to taste the Hakkaisan Seasonal Tokubetsu Junmai Nama Genshu. This sake is not for sale in the U.S., so I was excited to try it! The first thing that struck me was the frost on the carafe… I soon learned this had been frozen! Yes, this sake is served ice cold! Our sake glasses were chilled also. All I can say is… refreshing!! This sake is a nama, meaning unpasteurized which gives the sake a fresh, young taste. It’s also a genshu, which means undiluted – so it’s strong and bold with 18% alcohol. This type of chilled strong sake makes you say “Ahhhh!” after a long day of work or travel – I loved it!!

Sashimi!

On to the fish! Nihonbashi Suminoe didn’t disappoint when it came to it’s specialty. We ordered a stunning tray of sashimi that truly was a ‘feast for the eyes’! The fish was so fresh and sparkling, they looked like little jewels nestled in on the platter. For me, sake and fish is always a magical pairing, but in Tokyo and a specialty fish & sake restaurant – it just goes to a new level and leaves me pinching myself, it’s just so good! I even got to enjoy some of my favorite pieces including Mackerel and Yellowtail.

Washing the fish down with a few sips of Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai Nama Genshu, then a few more bites of sashimi, then a bit more sake… it made for a happy evening and a happy me. What a special night! Before too long, it was time to head out into the night and explore more of Tokyo wiht the Hakkaisan crew.

If you visit Tokyo, at trip to Nihonbashi Suminoe is really worth it. Don’t miss the chance to pair their sashimi with Hakkaisan.

Nihonbashi Suminoe Restaurant
2nd floor, COREDO Muromachi Building,
2-2-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Japan

Hakkaisan Interview Series: Michiko Fujimoto

Timothy Sullivan — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:02:23 +0000

Next in our series of interviews with Hakkaisan workers is Ms. Michiko Fujimoto. Michiko-san is on staff at the Hakkaisan Tokyo Office. She works on Sake seminars and has some special advice about sake temperature!

Q: How long have you worked with Hakkaisan?
Ms. Fujimoto: I’m on my third year working at Hakkaisan.

Michiko Fujimoto

Q: What is your job here at Hakkaisan?
Ms. Fujimoto: I belong to the product development department and the sales development. I also help organize sake seminars and consumer sake events that are lead by Hakkaisan’s President.

Q: What is your favorite Hakkaisan Sake?
Ms. Fujimoto: Honjozo! I think that, in regards to temperature, Hakkaisan Honjozo is really flexible.

Q: What foods do you pair with Hakkaisan Sake?
Ms. Fujimoto: I like to match my sake temperature and food temperature. When I eat a cold dish, I like to enjoy chilled sake. When I eat a warm dish, I enjoy warmed sake. For example, I enjoy pike sashimi with chilled Hakkaisan Honjozo and there is nothing like warm oden style foods with warmed Hakkaisan Honjozo.

Q: Do you have any message for American consumers of Hakkaisan Sake?
Ms. Fujimoto: I would like them to understand how flexible Hakkaisan is. You can really enjoy it at different temperatures, so I encourage everyone to experiement with temperature and have fun!

2012 Hakkaisan Valentine Dinner at Hakubai

Kumiko Kurosawa — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:25:07 +0000

On Feb 10th and 11th this year, Hakkaisan and Hakubai Restaurant at the Kitano Hotel in New York, celebrated two nights of wonderful kaiseki Valentine’s dinners. Executive Chef Yukihiro Sato prepared 6 courses of imaginative and visually stunning kaiseki that got everyone in the Valentine’s spirit.

Hakkaisan Sakes

The event was “couples only” and Kitano Deputy General Manager Mr. Kojima explained the ins and outs of Kaisei dining to the guests. I was on hand to introduce each sake and Chizuko Niikawa-Helton was the event organizer.

The sakes served included Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai, Hakkaisan, Junmai Ginjo, Hakkaisan Honjozo as well as a special treat carried all the way from Japan, Echigo De Soro, a seasonal Hakkaisan Nama Genshu. Echigo De Soro was the first sake served and it is a bold fresh sake that we serve quite cold for a refreshing start! The deliciously flexible Hakkaisan Honjozo was served to our guests both gently warmed in a carafe and also chilled in stemware. This allowed guests to experience this versatile sake two ways and pick their favorite!

Eel Chirashi and Red Miso Soup

Some of the highlights of the dinner included a delicious appetizer of cauliflower tofu with crab meat and wasabi alongside simmered bamboo shoots with dried bonito as well as a main course of Steamed eel chirashi, with thinly sliced omelet and shiitake mushroom paired with red soy bean miso soup. Delicious! Dessert was a many layered creme cake paired with a matcha tea “shot” and a decadent bowl of homemade ice cream drizzled with a light fruit sauce.

Here is the complete Menu:

Valentine Dinner For Couples

Appetizers
Cauliflower Tofu with crab meat and wasabi
Simmered Rabe blossoms and soy milk skin
Simmered bamboo shoots with dried bonito
Jellied fish broth
Clear soup with Oyster cake, carrot daikon radish scallion and citrus

1st Course
Assorted Sashimi of the day

2nd Course
Simmered Diakon Radish, Simmered Shrimp and Simmered green Vegetable

3rd Course
Japanese style beef steak
Deep fried yam with seaweed
Green tea soba noodle salad

Main Course
Steamed eel chirashi with thinly sliced omelet and shiitake mushroom
Red soy bean miso soup

Dessert
Valentine Special dessert

At the end of the evening, guests were treated to a gift bag including a magnificent Hakkaisan Arita porcelain sake set (one carafe + two cups = perfect for couples!) and a complementary bottle of Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai as well as a gift certificate for two to the entertaining Kitano Jazz bar!

The guests really enjoyed themselves. Wonderful sake, delicious Kaiseki food and Valentine’s fun all add up to a wonderful evening at Hakubai!

Hakkaisan Interview Series: Katsumi Nakazawa

Timothy Sullivan — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:39:35 +0000

Next in our series of interviews with Hakkaisan workers is Mr. Katsumi Nakazawa. Nakazawa-san is the Manager of Hakkaisan’s Tokyo office and a long time Hakkaisan employee. He oversees sales and promotional activities out of the the Hakkaisan Tokyo office. He’s a big fan of Hakkaisan Futsushu and Honjozo sakes, which he particularly recommends to us here in the States. Read more to find out why!

Q: How long have you worked with Hakkaisan?
Mr. Nakazawa: I’ve been working here for 23 years.

Q: What is your job here at Hakkaisan?
Mr. Nakazawa: I am the manager of the Tokyo Office for Hakkaisan Brewery. I work with my colleagues here to expand the Hakkaisan brand and make sure that Hakkaisan drinkers enjoy our sake. Our usual work is to visit liquor shops and discuss how we can work together to promote Hakkaisan sake. At the same time, we also started to do sake tasting events in restaurants as well. We also have a tasting and seminar room here at our office. The purpose is to help people to understand Hakkaisan and to be come familiar with our sake.

Katsumi Nakazawa

Q: Which Hakkaisan sake is your favorite to drink?
Mr. Nakazawa: Right now I have both Hakkaisan Honjozo and Hakkaisan Futsushu at home. Hakkaisan’s Honjozo and Futsushu are really flexible and pair well with many kinds of food. And at the same time, they are really easy going, easy-to-drink sakes – and not too fussy. I’d also like to note that for our Futsushu, the milling rate is already 60%, which is outstanding for an everyday table sake.

Q: What foods do you pair with Hakkaisan Sake?
Mr. Nakazawa: Believe it or not, cream cheese sauce and even cheese pizza pair well with Hakkaisan. Cheese and sake are both fermented so I know they pair well together.

Q: Do you have any message for American consumers of Hakkaisan Sake?
Mr. Nakazawa: With the first impression, Hakkaisan is not very fragrant or very rich on the first sip, but its strong point is that it supports food pairing so well. I would like to recommend that Americans try food and sake together. I know from my work here, that there are some people who only care about the daiginjo super premium sakes – anything that is super rare and expensive. They are only focused on super premium and never come back to try our everyday sakes. I am working hard to get fans for our everyday, regular sakes, the Hakkaisan Honjozo and Futsushu. This ties in with our company’s mission to make high quality everyday sake available to everyone at a good price. I would like to recommend that our American customers try all of our sakes, but be sure to sample our Futsushu and Honjozo. They are really worth checking out!